VA Benefits You Can Use for Senior Care in Ohio

VA benefits for senior care in Ohio can cover far more than most families realize. If your loved one is a veteran, the VA offers home-based medical care, nursing homes, monthly cash payments, and more. The challenge usually isn't eligibility. It's knowing what to ask for.

This guide covers every VA program that helps pay for or provide senior care, how to access them in Ohio, and what happens when VA care isn't enough on its own.

In This Guide

• Key Takeaways
• VA Senior Care Programs
• Ohio Veterans Homes
• Aid and Attendance
• Veteran-Directed Care
• Community Care (MISSION Act)
• How VA Benefits Work with Medicare and Medicaid
• How to Get Started
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Next Steps

VA Senior Care Programs in Ohio: Long-Term Care Options

The VA offers multiple long-term care programs.1 Access isn't automatic once a veteran is enrolled: VA also has to conclude the veteran needs that specific service for their ongoing treatment and personal care, and the service, or a space in the care setting, has to be available near them. VA may also consider other factors, like the veteran's service-connected disability status or insurance coverage.6

Home Based Primary Care (HBPC)

A VA physician supervises a health care team that visits the veteran at home.1 HBPC is designed for veterans with complex medical needs who have difficulty getting to a clinic regularly. The team typically includes a doctor, nurse, social worker, and may include rehabilitation therapists and a dietitian.

This isn't the same as home health care through Medicare. HBPC provides ongoing, coordinated primary care at home, not just short-term skilled visits. For veterans who qualify, it's one of the best programs the VA offers.

Adult Day Health Care

Veterans attend a structured daytime program that provides social activities, companionship, recreation, care, and support.1 It also gives family caregivers reliable daytime respite. Programs may be at VA facilities or contracted community adult day centers.

Community Living Centers (VA Nursing Homes)

Community Living Centers (CLCs) are VA nursing centers designed to feel like home, providing nursing-home-level care.1 They are located at larger VA medical centers across the country.

CLCs serve veterans who need short-term rehabilitation (after surgery or hospitalization), long-term nursing care, hospice care, or respite care.

Community Nursing Home Program

The VA contracts with community (non-VA) nursing homes so veterans can get nursing home care near home.1 Don't assume the stay is free. The VA covers some extended care under a veteran's standard VA health benefits and the veteran may still owe a copay; other services aren't covered under VA health care benefits at all, and for those a family may be able to pay through Medicaid, Medicare, or private insurance. For nursing home care specifically, whether VA benefits help pay depends on the veteran's income and the level of their service-connected disability.6 Ask the VA social worker what the placement will cost before you plan around it.

Respite Care

The VA provides at least 30 days of respite care per year for caregivers of enrolled veterans.7 Respite can be in-home (a substitute caregiver comes to the house) or facility-based (the veteran stays temporarily in a CLC or community nursing home). Contact the VA Caregiver Support Line at 1-855-260-3274.7

Ohio Veterans Homes

The Ohio Department of Veterans Services operates two state-run Ohio Veterans Homes: one in Sandusky, in northern Ohio about 60 miles west of Cleveland, and one in Georgetown, in southwestern Ohio about 45 miles east of Cincinnati.2 Both provide affordable long-term care to aged and disabled Ohio veterans.

To be eligible for admission, an applicant generally must have been an Ohio resident for at least one year and have been honorably discharged or separated under honorable conditions from the U.S. Armed Forces.2 Contact the Ohio Department of Veterans Services for availability and current rates.

VA Aid and Attendance

The Aid and Attendance pension is a monthly cash benefit for veterans (or surviving spouses) who need help with daily activities.3

2026 Rates

These are ceilings, the maximum amount of pension payable, not sums a claimant receives: VA pays the difference between the claimant's income for VA purposes and the limit that applies to them.3 VA publishes annual rates; a monthly amount is the yearly award divided by 12.3

Who Qualifies

To be eligible, the veteran must not have a dishonorable discharge, and must meet all of the following:8

• Service during a wartime period
• At least one of four qualifying circumstances: 65 or older; a permanent and total disability; a patient in a nursing home for long-term care because of a disability; or getting Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI). These branches are independent, so a wartime veteran under 65 who receives SSI qualifies on that branch alone, with no adjudicated disability rating.8
• Regular help with daily activities such as bathing, dressing, or feeding
• A net worth below $163,699. VA's net-worth calculation combines the claimant's and their dependents' assets and annual income; the primary home and a vehicle are excluded.8

The VA enforces a 3-year look-back period on asset transfers.8

How to Apply

Apply using VA Form 21-2680 (Examination for Housebound Status or Permanent Need for Regular Aid and Attendance), with the examination section filled out by a medical examiner. That form covers aid and attendance that will be added to either monthly compensation or pension benefits.9 The route described here is the pension route, whose condition VA states as: you may be eligible for this benefit if you get a VA pension. A wartime veteran taking the pension route who is not already receiving a VA pension files Form 21P-527EZ (Application for Veterans Pension) along with the 21-2680.9 You can file online at VA.gov, by mail to the VA Pension Intake Center, or in person at a VA regional office.9 On how long a decision takes, VA's answer is "It depends." It works claims in the order it receives them unless a claim qualifies for priority processing.9

Don't do this alone. The Ohio Department of Veterans Services and your County Veterans Service Office help veterans present their VA claims and can significantly improve your chances of approval.10

For the full application walkthrough, see our VA Aid and Attendance guide for Ohio.

Aid and Attendance is federal money, but Ohio runs a benefit of its own that a veteran can hold at the same time. A veteran with a total service-connected disability rating, or a total rating based on individual unemployability, can have part of their home's value taken out of what the county taxes, with no income test, filed with the county auditor rather than the VA. Our guide to the Ohio disabled veteran property tax exemption covers who qualifies, what it is worth, and how a surviving spouse keeps it.

Veteran-Directed Care

The Veteran-Directed Care (VDC) program gives veterans a flexible budget to hire their own caregivers, including family members.11 The veteran (or their representative) decides who provides care, what services to purchase, and how to manage the budget.

Unlike many Medicaid self-directed programs, VDC has no blanket prohibition on hiring a spouse as a paid caregiver.11 A financial management services provider handles payroll and tax obligations. This is a good option for veterans who want control over their care and prefer family members as caregivers.

Contact your local VA medical center's social work department to ask about VDC availability in your area.

Community Care Through the MISSION Act

The MISSION Act of 2018 (Public Law 115-182, enacted June 6, 2018) has, since 2019, let enrolled veterans get care from community (non-VA) providers at the VA's expense.4 Two requirements always apply: the veteran must be enrolled in or eligible for VA health care, and must have approval from their VA health care team before getting community care, except in certain cases such as urgent or emergency care.4 Beyond that, at least one of these has to be true:

• The VA can't offer an appointment within 20 days (primary care, mental health, and extended outpatient care) or 28 days (specialty care)
• The drive to a VA facility averages more than 30 minutes (primary care, mental health, and extended outpatient care) or 60 minutes (specialty care)
• The care you need isn't available at any VA health facility
• Community care is in your best medical interest4

On May 19, 2025, the VA streamlined the best-medical-interest pathway by implementing language in the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act (Public Law 118-210, enacted January 2, 2025), removing the extra step of review by a second VA doctor and giving eligible veterans faster access to community care.4

For Ohio veterans in rural areas far from a VA medical center, the MISSION Act can be the difference between getting timely care and waiting months.

How VA Benefits Work with Medicare and Medicaid

VA benefits don't replace Medicare or Medicaid, a veteran isn't required to sign up for Medicare to keep VA health care, and an Ohio veteran or surviving spouse can often receive VA pension and Medicaid at the same time.12,13 But the VA and Medicare don't coordinate or pay each other: you choose which one to use each time you get care, and VA health coverage isn't creditable coverage for Medicare Part B, so putting off Part B while relying on the VA alone leaves a lifetime Part B late-enrollment penalty.12

• VA + Medicare: Many veterans use both. Medicare covers care from non-VA providers, while VA covers care at VA facilities. You can't bill both for the same service, but having both gives you more options.12
• VA + Ohio Medicaid: Aid and Attendance is a federal VA pension administered separately from Ohio Medicaid, with different agencies, applications, and rules, and an Ohio veteran can receive both at the same time.14 The programs count money differently: for VA pension purposes, unreimbursed medical and care expenses can be deducted from countable income, which can raise the Aid and Attendance amount, while Ohio Medicaid applies its own income and asset tests and, at the eligibility step, uses SSI income rules under which the Aid and Attendance allowance is not income at all, so only the basic pension counts toward Ohio's limit.14 Eligibility is only the first step, though, and which rule applies next depends on the setting. For a resident of a nursing facility or other medical institution, 42 CFR 435.725 counts that disregarded income again, so the Aid and Attendance amount does enter the share-of-cost calculation, but Ohio must deduct five amounts before anything reaches the facility, in this order: a personal needs allowance for the resident, a maintenance needs allowance for a spouse still at home, a maintenance needs allowance for other family at home, incurred medical or remedial care costs Medicaid does not cover, and any SSI or state supplement still being paid. Ohio sets those amounts. Home and community-based waiver services are governed separately, by 42 CFR 435.726, whose first required deduction is a maintenance needs allowance the state may set at any level.14,13
• Because the two programs interact, the order and timing of applications can matter.14

This is where a Veterans Service Officer or elder law attorney earns their value. A benefits counselor who understands both programs should review a case before applying.14

How to Get Started

Next Steps

If you're caring for a veteran who needs help, start by calling 877-OHIO-VET (877-644-6838) and pressing 1, which reaches your local County Veterans Service Office.5 A County Veterans Service Officer can assess which benefits apply and help you file.10

Learn More

The information on Brevy.com is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional legal, financial, or medical advice. Rules vary by state and program and change frequently. Always verify with the relevant agency or a qualified professional. Brevy is not a law firm, financial advisor, or healthcare provider.